The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1887-11-10
THE COLUMBIA RIVER.

= - b. e.
stream. -
sIetia! Correspondence Of tho Ia.tlli5aeer.
When I came upon the bank OF the
Columbia river after my pilgrimage
Though Washington Territory, could
not at once decide which way to 70,
whether to go up stream, or down, or 10
croas over and make my way inlsnd--I
SCARCELY knew where, But, while I was
waiting ct the ANAL town, on that Hsmo
day, steamer came down the river and
stopped at the town 10 take Oh passengers
and merchandise. Tbs temptation was
toe strong for mt, and Oh the impulce OF
the moment l stepped on tho boat, not
knowing whittier It wac bound for or where
1t would land INC. cared little, WIS
not going anywhere in particular at that
time, except into new county; and aa l
bad never been down tho Columbia,
every milo would be now land, and that
was all I cared for. I.
! had, indeed. been on tho Columbia
river before. but 1t was a thousand mileS
above thiu point, and where 1t was only d
little river rushing down from the noun
tains Of eternal snow. Hero tho stream
his swelled 10 mighty delugc, ard looks
mora like flowing ocean than like 8
river. Tho magnitude Of the stream as.
tonished me. Tho Ohio ia but brook
compared to il. Iwaa cnco in New Or
leans when the Mississippi lacked bat
three feet Of Overlooking the cmbank-
ments around that city, and when the
whole country about Ls Tonsche wa1
under water; and yet, tho Mississippi
then did not look half 60 large IS the
Columbia. 81. 2N
Perhaps enc reason for this rivers be.
ing 10 vast is that the summer floods were
nearly ct their height. This river wGs
over its banks for miles and miles, and
only the tops Of the tseea could be aeen
above the water. If the Chic wero at this
stage you wonld cay it Ia 'from hill to
hill" but, here there are no hilln to con.
fine the waters, even in those wide and
destructive borders; and the great Column
bis rolled its tnrbid Taters in pillows
often as far az the eye could reach in
every direction. 1t was a'wcrld OF waters
that had no lho7ea. The topa Of trees
barely vlssiblo above the il5od lent an
swful appearance to the ncene. Tho de-
luge which destroyed the earth in the
time Of Noah must have looked like this,
and such trees as these, just vinible above
the waters, were where the dove found
tho leaf which 1t carried home to the ark.
When the steamer had Left tbs bluff
whore stood the little tcEn and had passed
out into the midriysr, began to under
stand many things IN poetry and history
which before had not been fully made
plain TO no. It wea along this river that
Lewis and Clark had passed. These
scenes were the thon1e which Washington
Irving had woven into the beautiful and
wonderful Astoria" On the banks OF
this river, and on its tide, and among its
islands, and deep in the forests that line
ito shores. and on tho morntainn thar ised
ita iountsin heaap, had tho romantic,
mysterious and snllen McClelland per
turned bis desds of daring which no other
man on Garth would have dared to at
tempt.
Hi.her; also, had the thoughts Of vii
liam Cullen Bryant turned iof poetic pic.
lures and comparisons in his earlier years
and the Columbia-he called it "the
Oregon"-ip intsrwovea in the immortal
"Fhanatonsa." Thought Of this, and the
beauty OF that psen, and especially OF
that part of it bore lorceably upon my
mind. The wind blew hard, and the
waves Of the river were rolling and wash.
ing and pluugiug like the pillows on the
ocean. No wonder then that ! should 70,
call the words:
".rake the wings
Of the morning and the Barcan desert pierce,
nt lose thyself in tho continuous wood5
Where rolls the Oregon, and hear no sounds,
Save his own dashinss -yet-tAe dead are there,
And r. il'ions IN these ioiitades. since mrs, :
The alsnt OF Pe.rs besan, have lad them down
In their last sleep; THO dead Ieign there aIone.H
The s!esmer plowed it's way down the
river, passing as It went vast masses oil
driitwood, Of trees and branches snd vines
snd tipbera: all seeming to cling close to.
gether for protection, IL the current Of
tho river bore them swiftly on toward the
ocean. The inaninato drifts and debris
from the Islands aud hills above, had lit.
tie need to fear the ocean aiter having
passed through the s,o7ms on this river;
Tor the sea is seldom more violent in its
tempeats tben the Columbia was thst first
day was upon 1t. t5 l.i5-
had go often hoard OF the Valley oil
the Columbia, and had fancied that il
would be like the valley OF tho Shensn.
doah or the kanawha, except wider, and
perhaps more beautiful butI did not i;ud
It 90. Tho valley is indeed hundroda oil
miles in width, but could see mono OF /,
from where vSs on the river. Iexpect'
ed to see splendid farms, vita .Elans:ous
Tor houses, like those on the Hudson, and
orchards Of extent and regularity like
thcee OF the Delaware. But did not zoe
them. l asw only water, waves. inunda
ton and floods on svsry eide, rs far as eye
could ace, and looked until grew tired
Of looking, and tho ecene was the same.
hight came on, and in the dsrkneaH
could hear the waves breaking and dash
ling against the Htesmer'a sides, and coult
feel tho boat jar and culver In the strength
OF tho blows, and always the deep roar o
The wsvea rushing over one another
driven before tho wind, which yet blew {
gale up the yiSe., and whistled and moan
ed through tho upper structure OF tn.
tehip. 1t was stormy night, and latiguet
ID was with my long and toilsoma Jour
noy, I could not 90 to sleep, but sat u,
till nearly morning, liatan;ng to tie storm
and the commotion Of the river, and lei
ting my fancy have full sweep over all th,
wide, dark foods and storms about me.
I slept before morning, aud when
awoke there was little change. The d.,
was cloudy. The preceding one had beef
clear. The wind blew cold and bleak, AMI
the ride ,wss losing its romance for me
But, l was on bos1d now, end there wa
no help for mo except to get of 1T SOM
one Of the little towns or wood.Btations q
which the steamer stopped every few
hours. This I might have done had I no
known that | xss drawing near tn
mouth Of tho Willamette river.
= That stream empties into the Columb'
from the south, and when I reached ii
mouth I had made up my mind to iesy,
the Columbia and escend tho smaller
cordingly, babe adieu to the ateauer Of
which camo down, and took nssspoe n,